the offense flowed surprisingly well with nelson on the court. it was like he wasn't even gone, id expect some sloppiness his first game back and the team having to get re-used to him, but there was very little. props to him and the team.
i voted no, i thought he was a positive factor coming off, i was actually opposed to the magic playing him and i still think it'll catch up to them later.
i voted no, i thought he was a positive factor coming off, i was actually opposed to the magic playing him and i still think it'll catch up to them later.
hno:
Not blaming Nelson, Alston or VG. The question was "Do You think Playing Jameer Nelson in Game #1, had Anything to do with the Magic's Lost ?" I think the magic had a chemistry, a rhythm going, and belief they could/would win.
VG decided to mess with that and play (some, including me feel 'over play' Nelson and it detracted from the team on 2 levels. Nelson did not do all that well, and when they decided it wasn't helping, sticking a (psychologically) diminished Alston in obviously didn't help either.
The psyche of a team on a roll can be a fragile animal. The question is, if Nelson was left on the injured list, or simply activated with the understanding he'd be on the bench in case of injury or foul trouble..... would Alston have performed better? Better then the 2 headed entity, NEL-ALL?
From Alstons point of view, the decision to rush Nelson along, without adequate time to get his indurance up.........must mean he wasn't doing something the team needed. He wasn't enough. So VG plays Nelson much of the 1H, then goes back to Alston.....is it a huge surprise he doesn't excel?
I'm guessing VG felt Nelson slightly better numbers (12 pts vs 17, and 3.5 vs 3 reb/g.....also total assts edge.......226 assts vs 148) AND the match up improvements outweighed the risks involved.
Last and most important point. VG admitted it was wrong to play him as much as he did. VG strikes me as an insecure guy, not prone to voluntarily admitted he screwed up if its a gray area. He saw the game, he saw how his team did and he apologized. He goofed.
Question is........can all the kings horses and all the kings men put humpty dumpty back together again. I don't think so. NBA has existed for 63 years and this is the lakers 30th finals. Think about that for a minute. Lakers have been in 47.6% of the leagues finals? Almost every other year.
They are shooting for their 15th championship. PJ has 10 championships. 9 as a coach. Teams need experience, need to learn how to handle media, family wanting tickets etc etc. This experience will help Orlando next year. But they are dead men walking. They might win 1 game. But they will not win the series.
Did it matter? My intuition is it did. We'll see.
VG decided to mess with that and play (some, including me feel 'over play' Nelson and it detracted from the team on 2 levels. Nelson did not do all that well, and when they decided it wasn't helping, sticking a (psychologically) diminished Alston in obviously didn't help either.
The psyche of a team on a roll can be a fragile animal. The question is, if Nelson was left on the injured list, or simply activated with the understanding he'd be on the bench in case of injury or foul trouble..... would Alston have performed better? Better then the 2 headed entity, NEL-ALL?
From Alstons point of view, the decision to rush Nelson along, without adequate time to get his indurance up.........must mean he wasn't doing something the team needed. He wasn't enough. So VG plays Nelson much of the 1H, then goes back to Alston.....is it a huge surprise he doesn't excel?
I'm guessing VG felt Nelson slightly better numbers (12 pts vs 17, and 3.5 vs 3 reb/g.....also total assts edge.......226 assts vs 148) AND the match up improvements outweighed the risks involved.
Last and most important point. VG admitted it was wrong to play him as much as he did. VG strikes me as an insecure guy, not prone to voluntarily admitted he screwed up if its a gray area. He saw the game, he saw how his team did and he apologized. He goofed.
Question is........can all the kings horses and all the kings men put humpty dumpty back together again. I don't think so. NBA has existed for 63 years and this is the lakers 30th finals. Think about that for a minute. Lakers have been in 47.6% of the leagues finals? Almost every other year.
They are shooting for their 15th championship. PJ has 10 championships. 9 as a coach. Teams need experience, need to learn how to handle media, family wanting tickets etc etc. This experience will help Orlando next year. But they are dead men walking. They might win 1 game. But they will not win the series.
Did it matter? My intuition is it did. We'll see.
nelson was a spark @ the beginning, but fell off after the 1st 5 minutes, as expected. should have been used as a shot in the arm. i think you gotta go with the guys that got you there. bb is the ultimate team game, and chemistry means alot. ques. is, can they get that chemistry back, or do they lay down and die?
one writer's opinion:
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]We have to point out that a key influence in the blowout was the return of Jameer Nelson to the Orlando Magic. It was arguably the LAST thing the team needed at that moment.
*Rafer Alston had been thriving at point guard. Nelson was extremely likely to be rusty. Why do you want to take minutes away from a guy who's thriving and give them to a guy who's rusty? It's one thing if Nelson was going to be in peak form. It took AROD two weeks to get his bearings back for the Yankees. Nelson wasn't going to be sharp from the get-go for the Magic.
*The rest of the team seemed to have no idea where to go when Nelson had the ball. They hadn't played together in weeks...and they hadn't faced a playoff caliber defense with him at the helm in ages. 'Rusty' doesn't work against whoever you play. It's particularly bad against a motivated champion that's emphasizing defense.
*Coach Stan Van Gundy basically told Alston that he doesn't have faith in him any more as anything other than a backup. Alston would go 2 of 9 from the floor with 1 assist in 24.5 minutes of action. And, Alston would do that against an old point guard in Derek Fisher who can't guard anybody!
*Van Gundy basically told the rest of the team, 'Be patient, it will all come together soon,' as they scored 19 in the second quarter, 15 in the third quarter, and 17 in the fourth quarter. Their best quarter was the first, when Nelson was starting the game on the bench.
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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]We have to point out that a key influence in the blowout was the return of Jameer Nelson to the Orlando Magic. It was arguably the LAST thing the team needed at that moment.
*Rafer Alston had been thriving at point guard. Nelson was extremely likely to be rusty. Why do you want to take minutes away from a guy who's thriving and give them to a guy who's rusty? It's one thing if Nelson was going to be in peak form. It took AROD two weeks to get his bearings back for the Yankees. Nelson wasn't going to be sharp from the get-go for the Magic.
*The rest of the team seemed to have no idea where to go when Nelson had the ball. They hadn't played together in weeks...and they hadn't faced a playoff caliber defense with him at the helm in ages. 'Rusty' doesn't work against whoever you play. It's particularly bad against a motivated champion that's emphasizing defense.
*Coach Stan Van Gundy basically told Alston that he doesn't have faith in him any more as anything other than a backup. Alston would go 2 of 9 from the floor with 1 assist in 24.5 minutes of action. And, Alston would do that against an old point guard in Derek Fisher who can't guard anybody!
*Van Gundy basically told the rest of the team, 'Be patient, it will all come together soon,' as they scored 19 in the second quarter, 15 in the third quarter, and 17 in the fourth quarter. Their best quarter was the first, when Nelson was starting the game on the bench.
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